Readiness and Revenge
by lalalei
Summary: Just because you're ready for the boss of Team Rocket doesn't mean you're ready for his guards. Oneshot. Based on an incident in a Nuzlocke of Pokemon Blue.


Silph Co. was easily the toughest challenge Red had faced so far. It was obvious Giovanni wasn't cutting any corners with this operation, and neither were his underlings. Red had learned that the hard way when the second Rocket he'd encountered defeated and killed the Butterfree that had been with him since Viridian Forest.

Red had defeated the rest of the man's Pokemon, starting with the Golbat that did the deed, but the loss cut into him deeply. He knew that if he was going to survive this with his team and emotional wellbeing intact, he would have to be stronger than Team Rocket. That meant training—and a memorial to his fallen friend. Red vowed that as soon as Team Rocket was cleared out of Saffron, he would head back to Lavender Town for a service. He owed Butterfree that much.

Red withdrew his Pidgeotto to fill the empty spot on his team, healed, and stormed back into the building. He was eager for payback. To give these men what they deserved for killing Pokemon and using the ones they let live as tools. To disband their organization and plans entirely.

Red soon found out that wanting revenge and getting it were two separate things.

####

Eight floors. Eight floors of fighting Rockets and turncoat scientists. Red's team was exhausted, but no one had died. There were some close calls, though—he'd had to use two Escape Ropes due to poison affecting his Charizard and Clefairy, and had wandered around lost until he'd found the Card Key. He had even run into Blue, who'd nearly defeated his Pidgeotto and Haunter before Red had rallied and taken out his team.

But it had been worth it. Red had overcome those challenges. He'd healed his Pokemon thanks to a nurse on the ninth floor of the building. He'd found the correct warp tile leading to the Silph President's office. And soon, Red knew, he'd defeat Team Rocket's leader a second time. He was ready for him.

Red strode down the hallway, turned a corner, and flinched at the crack of a whip inches from his face.

"Stop _right_ there! Don't you move," cried a Rocket standing guard in front of a door. The man looked ready to attack Red himself if need be; the boy backed away and readied a Poke Ball.

His opponent scowled. "What's a kid like you doing here? Cubone, take care of this," he said, releasing the Ground-type Pokemon with a crack of his whip. Red was stunned at the audacity it would take to carry a Cubone after what the Rockets had done at Lavender, but his gaze hardened further. He was fighting for Pokemon like this in the end, even if it meant he'd have to fight them.

"This _kid_ is going to defeat you, then your boss, and bring down your operation. I already did it at Celadon," Red said with a grin not unlike Blue's. He threw his Poke Ball. "Go! Pidgeotto!"

In a flash of light, Red's Pidgeotto appeared. It glared at the Rocket member, but its gaze softened upon seeing the Cubone—at least until it readied its club.

"Cubone, use—"

"Use Quick Attack," Red cried; his Pokemon obeyed and smacked into its target as quickly as it could. The Cubone staggered from the hit. The Rocket's frown deepened, his hand tightening around the handle of his whip.

"Cubone. Headbutt," he said; the Pokemon glanced back at him and obeyed, striking Red's Pidgeotto with its skull-capped head. The bird Pokemon stumbled back, but was still relatively healthy.

"Pidgeotto, go for Wing Attack!" Pidgeotto nodded and smacked the Cubone with both of its wings; it was a critical hit. The Rocket's Pokemon fell back and didn't get up. It had fainted.

"That _useless_—alright. No more games, kid," the Rocket growled. At the same time as Red recalled Pidgeotto, he recalled his fainted Cubone and threw out another Pokemon. It was a Drowzee. It grinned at Red, waving its hands as if to hypnotize him.

Red's Pokeball opened up to reveal his Clefairy. She had been rescued from the Rocket Game Corner for 500 coins, and he had taught her several moves with TMs. While Red wasn't sure if she was ready to evolve yet, he knew she was a good battler and, he hoped, one of his close friends.

"Go, Clefairy," Red said. "Use Ice Beam!"

Clefairy wiggled her fingers and a jet of ice shot out, striking the Drowzee. It shivered and shook off the attack, looking relatively healthy—though Red calculated a few more Ice Beams would finish it.

The Rocket grinned.

"Drowzee. Use Confuse Ray."

The room seemed to darken as a ball of light formed in the Drowzee's hands and drifted towards Red's Clefairy, fading as it struck her. When the light faded completely, Clefairy's eyes were blank and glassy.

Red was taken aback, but only momentarily. "Clefairy, try Ice Beam again!"

Clefairy struggled to focus on her target—and ended up clawing at herself. Red gasped, though Clefairy soon stopped when she registered the pain she was in. The Rocket saw his opportunity to strike.

"Drowzee, Confusion!"

Psychic waves emanated from Drowzee's hands and struck Clefairy; she stumbled back, but didn't seem in immediate danger. Even if she attacked herself again, if all that Drowzee knew was Confusion, Red knew Clefairy would be alright.

"Don't give up, Clefairy! Use Pound!"

The fairy Pokemon listened, squinted, then drew back a tiny fist and hit the Drowzee on its nose, sending it flying back with more force than one would expect from such a tiny Pokemon. The Drowzee seemed much weaker than before, but still stood.

Red eyed his opponent. "Your move."

The Rocket stepped forward and cracked his whip, pointing at red and his Pokemon.

"Kill it, Drowzee. Psychic."

By the time Red registered the man's words it was too late.

A much larger wave of energy tore into Clefairy, distorting the space around her and burrowing into her mind. Drowzee clenched a fist at the same time as the Rocket did, and in another second it was over.

Clefairy fell to the cold floor and didn't move.

The boy saw red.

Unthinking, he sent out his Haunter and commanded him to use Night Shade. In the back of his mind, he knew Poison was weak to Psychic—but he hoped the Drowzee was weak enough for it to defeat.

Red was wrong.

Drowzee flew backwards from the attack, fell… and shakily got up. Its eyes glimmered.

The Rocket laughed. "Pokemon are only as good as their trainers, kid. Kill this one too, Drowzee. Confusion."

Haunter braced itself for the impact, but it wasn't enough—the psychic waves tore it apart, dispersing its remnants into the air.

Red dimly remembered sending out his Persian to finish the Drowzee off, as well as the Rocket's last Pokemon—a Marowak. Persian had taken care of that too.

Red realized that he could have prevented the deaths, easily. But he wanted his Pokemon to be trained equally. He wanted to show these men that any Pokemon could defeat them.

He wanted revenge for one death.

Now he had three services to plan.

Red became aware that the door behind the Rocket was now open, and the man had disappeared from his sight. He wasn't ready now. He wasn't ready at all. Maybe he was _never_ ready.

"Now, then, you wanted to see my Boss?"

And then he felt a hard shove forward. Red stumbled through the doorway and came face-to face with Giovanni...


End file.
